In the New Testament of the Bible, an account in the Gospel of John tells of how Jesus cured a blind man by covering his eyes with mud and then having him wash in the Pool of Siloam—the same pool mentioned multiple times in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah. The rock-cut pool is believed to have been used as a ritual bath by ancient Jews near the Temple. In 2004, archaeologists in Jerusalem announced that they had discovered the pool during an unrelated excavation. Where was it found?More...

Five years after US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, his younger brother, Senator Robert Kennedy, was shot and killed by a man named Sirhan Sirhan. The shooting took place on the night that Robert won the California Democratic presidential nomination. His body was taken to Arlington National Cemetery by train, and thousands of people gathered by the tracks to pay tribute. He was buried near his brother. In what way was the ceremony the only one of its kind in Arlington's history?More...

After serving as an aide to George Washington during the American Revolution, Trumbull went to London to study painting under Benjamin West. He was imprisoned shortly thereafter—in retribution for the hanging of a British agent in the US—and left London upon his release. He returned in 1784 and began a celebrated series of historical paintings, four of which now hang in the US Capitol rotunda. His oft-reproduced Declaration of Independence is featured on what denomination of US currency?More...

Quotation of the Day

It is just at the very age when a man's character is forming that he tumbles into love, and then the lass he loves has the making or marring of him. Unconsciously he molds himself to what she would have him, good or bad.

This day marks the start of the Allied invasion of occupied France in 1944, which led to the final defeat of Hitler's Germany the following May. About 3,000 ships transported 130,000 British, Canadian, and American troops across the English Channel to land on the beaches of Normandy. Airborne troops began parachuting into Normandy at 15 minutes past midnight on June 6, and Landing Craft Transports plowed through the surf to spill troops onto the beaches. About 10,000 troops were killed or wounded that day. Each year, simple ceremonies at the Normandy cemeteries commemorate the men who fell.More...

A UN report released on Tuesday concluded that there are "reasonable grounds" to believe that chemical weapons have been used in Syria but stops short of naming a responsible party due to an apparent lack of evidence. Shortly thereafter, France's foreign minister announced that lab tests in Paris confirmed numerous uses of the nerve agentsarin in Syria and asserted that the Syrian government and its allies have been behind its use. Months ago, the US president called the use of chemical weapons in war-torn Syria a "red line," but it remains to be seen what action, if any, the international community will take as evidence that this line has been crossed mounts.More...

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